The senior staff at California American Water needs to be investigated.

And we, the voters, need to buy out Cal Am and rid our county of corruption.

Tristan Rico

Carmel Valley

Surprised by Burnett's resistance

I was really surprised to read about Marina Planning Commission chairman David Burnett's resistance to accommodating the request for sample testing from California American Water. Currently, this is our source of water delivery to the Monterey Peninsula, with the exception of Marina.

The short-sightedness of his isolationist position is frightening. We are a community dependent upon each other for economic viability and sustainability. Marina residents work on the Monterey Peninsula. If they don't have jobs due to lack of water, what kind of community will Marina, with its water, have?

Karen Calley

Monterey

A simple way to save water

I know this is such an important topic, and I would like to share my little contribution about how I save water.

We do not have the type of water heater that delivers hot water immediately out of the tap. You have to wait for the time it takes to deliver about three gallons of water. I am capturing that water and saving it in a big, covered bucket to use for plants, pets and, if need be, to drink.

I know there is a device that one can buy to attach to the water heater for faster hot water delivery. The device costs about $200 and, frankly, we don't have the money. We rent and maybe my landlord would split the cost.

In the meantime, I hate to see all that water going down the drain, so we are catching and stashing it.

C. J. Pulliam

Seaside

Worries about power station attack

On April 16, an attack on a power substation in San Jose occurred just after 1 a.m. The attackers shot 17 transformers' oil-filled cooling systems, destroying them in minutes.

Twenty-seven days would be required to bring the station back online. More than 100 AK-47 shell casings, fingerprint-free, were found, along with small piles of rocks outside the perimeter indicating someone pre-selected the best spots to shoot the transformers.

Before the shooting started, fiber optic cables in an underground vault were cut. Whoever did this made repairing them extremely difficult. The attackers got away clean, just ahead of the police.

"It was the most significant incident of domestic terrorism involving the grid that has ever occurred," said a former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman, who expressed concern this was merely a "dry run."

Replicated across the country, attacks like this could black out much of our country for weeks, if not months.

Although the attack bears all the hallmarks of terrorism, the FBI says it has no evidence this was the case. Until recently, PG&E called it vandalism, although repair costs topped $15 million.

Was it some "Bubba" and his beer-drinking buddies? I doubt it.

Warren "Pete" Poitras

Carmel Valley

Outrage lacking over Syria situation

Where is the international outrage?

The Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has once again failed to honor a cease-fire brokered by the United Nations.

Recently, a humanitarian convoy with food and water headed for the ancient city of Homs was forced to retreat because of mortars.

The al-Assad regime has continually demonstrated a draconian approach to its own people and has been accused of appalling human rights violations.

While international attention is focused on the winter Olympics, thousands have died and thousands more are trapped in the rebel-held center of the city.

If only the people of Syria were located on vast petroleum reserves.

Kelly O'Hara

Marina

Esalen isn't what it used to be

I was once a devoted Esalen person and met my girlfriend there years ago in the wonderful baths. I have been going there for decades, even sneaking in way back in the 1970s.

But in recent years, Esalen has become something wholly different than the image people have had of it for decades.

Not only did Esalen destroy a Native American burial ground and then try to smooth it over by having inane ceremonies and bestowing Native American names upon the people doing workshops there, but Esalen is an elitist venue that isn't really contributing to the enlightenment of the masses.

I find it laughable Esalen killed its annual fundraising July Fourth and Labor Day celebrations that were open to the general public. Now Esalen sends email pitches for contributions.

Now I read that a man was arrested for doffing his clothes in an Esalen workshop when nudity at the baths and pool area is the norm. This is the height of hypocrisy.

This is why we now go to Harbin Hot Springs and Lupin Naturist Resort, where such hypocrisy does not exist and where people of all economic levels can afford to go.